Editor’s note for Wednesday, October 28, 2020

My thoughts today:

Since Australia called for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April, China has targeted Australian exports of barley, beef, cotton, coal, and wine worth up to $19 billion a year, according to new analysis, reported by the Guardian.

An “additional $28 billion worth of services exports could be at risk if Beijing’s warnings to its citizens against travel to Australia — based on claims of an elevated risk of racist attacks — prevents a post-COVID recovery in tourism and international education.”

In September, Mongolia replaced Australia as China’s leading source of coking coal, according to this report (in Chinese).

Australia joins South Korea and Norway in learning how Beijing can punish any country for real or perceived slights or threats to its interests. It’s a lesson that other nations that are economically dependent on China would do well to observe.

Upcoming The China Project event: Tomorrow, October 29, join Jenny Liu of Pillsbury, along with guest speakers from Citi Private Bank and BNY Mellon International Wealth Management, for a conversation on China-U.S. cross-border considerations of private wealth management. 

Our word of the day is green finance (绿色金融 lǜsè jīnróng).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief